Fayth's Guardian
by VnikkiR
Summary: Raised in a life of lies, Tidus is taken from his home and transported to a new world where he learns of his true identity and of a deadly threat named Sin. In order to destroy it, Tidus must protect the Summoner, Yuna, by becoming The Guardian.
1. Introduction & Prologue

**Introduction:**  
  
This is a story, a story about two worlds that live apart caused by a fatal war, but corrupted by an evil that exists from that of another world.

In this story, a teenager, by the name of Tidus, will meet a young girl, Yuna, who is also the key to saving their future. Along with her closest companions, who will stay by her side in this desperate fight against their enemy, she and Tidus must go battle an eternal creature that had come to be known as Sin.

Their plan is to journey far and wide in search of the ancient spirits that are going to help them fight in the final battle that they hope will end the continuous living cycle of this deadly creature. They knew that this was going to be a long journey that would take a lot of time, time that they did not have, but because of their determination to defeat the evil that had haunted the lives of so many, they did not give up.

As their friendship grows, the others begin to connect with their new friend, but what they did not expect though, was the development of an impossible love between those that they least expected. Learn of the things that people will do for, and against, love and the final battle that will end both heartbreaking and joyful.  
  
**Prologue:**  
  
A thousand years ago, on the planet Gaia, there existed a continent called Spira. It was an extraordinary place with beauty and peace all around. You could travel all over the world a million times and still be amazed by the beautiful sites that were simply breathtaking. In the numerous regions of the continent, which were separated by the boundaries that marked each of the different territorial grounds of it, there was always something new and unique to see in each of the regions that were similar, yet different, from each other.

In many parts of the continent, people felt that nature was an important symbol to representing the beauty of their world. Plants, but mostly flowers, were some of them. Different kinds of multicolored plants and flowers were grown in many gardens. Groups of flowers and plants were grown in rows and divided into sections, which were individually decided by their type and color. Those who tended flowers sometimes cut the lower part of the flowers' stems by using garden scissors and put them in large bouquets to send to the flower shops so they could be put into a pretty arrangement.  
  
In other places, people grew flowers in the yards of their home, either by the sides of the houses or lined up against the outer edges of their property. Those who did not live in a house, but in an apartment building or condo, had indoor houseplants with their roots buried in flowerpots filled with soil. There were even people who planted their flowers out on the floors of their decks or the shelves of their windowsills. Other places had wild flowers that grew there naturally. Each of them had sprouted out of the brown dirt ground, standing up straight beside the tall trees that had green and yellow-edged leaves that hung onto the thin branches of them as they quietly rustled against each other in the light breeze.

Besides plants and flowers, Spira had different types of landscapes. Some places had rough terrain with steep hills that would give a bicycle rider trouble, while others had hilly deserts that were dry and had no supply of water that was anywhere to be seen. In certain sites of the continent, there were tall mountains that appeared mysteriously dangerous but braved by mountain climbers who take the joy of working their way up to the top.

In between them, cute baby deer that were taken care of by protective parents lived deep in the valleys. Colorfully designed butterflies littered the scene fluttering their wings around the stunning waterfalls that the river rapidly flowed through. Fish of all sizes wiggled their fins through the waters slowly as they swarmed pass the rocks resting below the surface of the water on the river floor.

The continent had many woods and forests in most of the separate regions. Small villages that liked closed off areas for protective purposes lived in some of them. Other areas had people that bought property there because they wanted to have privacy. And some had no inhabitants living nearby, except for the animals that stay there. Small animals like squirrels and chipmunks could be seen scurrying around playfully; chasing each other on the short-grassed fields that were located close by to the big villages that inhabited the area.

Adorable rabbits would poke around in the vegetable gardens in hopes of being able to snack on fresh carrots before getting chased away by angry farmers. Mostly tiny animals would be seen living close to people while the larger animals live in a more conserved area that would be cleared of people to disturb them. Most of the ones that live away from civilization were usually found high up in the mountains, very few were like the ones that had mountain climbers who scaled them weekly.

In places that were inhabited by people, they would either have grand cities that were filled with many things made from the advancing technology, or little towns containing simple appliances that were used in every day life. In the cities, they had tall buildings that had tinted windows on each side of it. In the highways, roads, and streets, bright signs and traffic lights controlled the cars that rushed by and, in other cases, the upper highways that were specially made for hovercrafts.

Sidewalks were crowded with people who were shopping or gliding pass on their hover scooters on their way to work. Trains and metros helped transport people to and from two locations. Those in the field of transportation advancement worked in their laboratories to invent electronic transporters. Other laboratories worked on different models of robots that were assembled to do specific jobs and were often used to complete heavy labor.

Professional workers operated computers and electronic gadgets, which were very significant in the cities because of the advancing technology that was used in various places around the cities, and because they were needed to improve their already useful machinery.

In small towns, things were different though. They had small roads with not so many traffic indicators since they were not busy with rush hour. Buildings were short and wide, and technology was not a key factor to the people of these small towns. Except for certain jobs that needed them, robots barely existed in these towns, and workstations were not used very much. Those towns may not have been as complex as the cities, but they were more modern than the numerous villages that were mostly located in the outskirts of the continent.

In Spira, there were many things built that were either done historically or for tourist attractions, such as historical buildings, museums containing Spira's history, and masterpiece architectures. There were momentous murals that hung against the walls of temples that had been painted by artists that lived decades before this time. Great statues that were specially carved by hand stood proudly in each room that were visited by those who wanted to pray for themselves and their loved ones, or because there was a particular holiday that they were celebrating.

Transportation came in a variety of physical characteristics that were specially invented for different types of traveling. Large ships and several boats scattered over the waters gliding smoothly through the serene sea of blue. They were often used to import goods from one place to another, and even more often for those who lived on the tiny islands that surrounded the outer banks of Spira.

Airship vessels that flew by using steam powered engine technology occupied the skies. As they floated through the misty clouds that muddled up with the steam that came out of the rusted pipes from the airships, people enjoyed standing outside on the upper decks and watched with entertainment when overlooking lively cities or villages.

Children were given special places to occupy themselves also. Colorful playgrounds with swirling slides and high lifting swings were built in different areas where many young children could be found playing at hours on end, whining stubbornly when their parents came to take them back home. Amusement parks were always crowded with countless youngsters, but were scarcely packed once a new school year had begun. Others who had begun to leave behind their childhood and step into their teen years took on serious objectives that would come into play once they've gotten a bit older.

Those who were in their young adult stages, preferably teenagers, had their own hang out places to go to, such as shopping malls, dance clubs, or sports places where they can choose their choice of physical activity or just play some for the excitement of it. Many begin training for years of preparation for the time when they can tryout for an athletic team.

The adults on the other hand did just about everything all around Spira. Either they were vacationing with their families, working at their jobs, playing on various teams and going to competitions, or anything else available for them to do around the continent.

Things were usually eventful and everyone was very active. Most of the people who lived in Spira always got along, with the exception to those who were prejudice against others. In Spira, there were three different types of beings: human, ronso, and guato.

Some people took care of each other and looked out for one another. The conflicts between the regions had never taken much of an effect. The different beings were usually cooperative with each other and did not care about racist feelings against anyone who was of different type of being. But that did not mean that there were not any people who felt prejudice against those that they felt were inferior to their own. There were issues that concerned this conflict, which had caused problems every once in a while, but not often. However, superior cockiness can break connections between the regions.

There were various jobs that existed in the career world of Spira. Some were workers who went to work bright and early in the morning and did not go back home until it was late at night when most people had already gone to sleep. They would often try to do their jobs meticulously in hopes of getting promoted to a higher classed job when in process of impressing those of higher authority.

Farmers, dressed in plaid shirts with rolled up sleeves and faded blue overalls with dirt-covered boots, were in charge of taking care of the numerous plantations that were used to plant fruit and vegetables. Everyday, the darkly tanned farmers could be found outside in the fields that were always bright and hot from the scorching sun.

Teachers worked daily to educate the children, working on weekly plans ahead of time and getting lectures prepared while organizing useful materials for their lessons. Most of the good students in each school go to their classes every morning and afternoon. Sitting at their desks in front of the built in laptops with their heads propped on the knuckles of their hands, they'd try very hard to pay attention while blocking out the distracting thoughts of being able to freely run outdoors and to just hang out with their friends.

Besides these, there were a large variety of jobs that involve a special part that played in the circle of continuous production and technological advances in the lives of these people. No matter if it was a high paying career, or simply a person that has a low classed job, everyone's career had a purpose that was respected by many. That was why everything seemed to work out smoothly on Gaia. Everyone would do his or her part, preventing any troubles to cause tension between them and others that were from different regions, but there were things that were not always meant to stay the way they were.

Divergence raised in two the many regions of Spira. Economical, political, and personal tribulations began to grow between the people of the different regions. In the work force areas, there were workers who often went on strike or made complaints as a way to tell people of the horrible job that was being sloppily done by the workers in the opposite regions. Competition was another story. Fights and riots would take place a few times every couple of weeks, but soon increased to every so often because people were not getting along well. Employees began to get laid off, and many had lost their homes and prized possessions.

Racism was one of the large issues that were present at that time. As the years went by, racism between the different races increased a bit. In Spira, racist wasn't just discriminating against those of other beings, but also those who belonged outside their own territory. Many disagreed with the problems that were being told by the people that disrespected those that were different from them, and physical actions that were taken caused people to get arrested by aggressive security officers. Political people of high authority had made false promises and bad decisions with other nations, causing compromises to be denied from them.

The things that had started out as little everyday problems had grown to become dreadful issues. At first, they tried to ignore it. All of their lives, they had lived with the well-known fact that Spira was a place of peace and unity, but now what they had come to know was beginning to turn upside down and become an awful nightmare. They thought that it was just a faze, a thing that would soon die out just as soon as it had started, but this was not just a mere issue that could go away over night. After years of struggle between the nations, it was finally time that the regions decided to take action to try and end these chaotic conflicts between them, but it was too late.

After years of persevering through so many things, some problems just could not be solved, and as a result, caused two of the most valuable nations to separate from their motherland, Spira. A piece of the continent broke apart from it, immediately becoming the large island that was called Zanarkand. Soon afterward, another nation did the same thing, becoming the place that was called Al Bhed.

With the ruined peace, war broke out as Spira began attacking the two nations that had separated from their once whole continent. Being a larger continent with more people and resources, Spira was stronger than the two islands that had weaker defense systems.

Spira had water vessels, submarines, and large boats sail to each of the regions to transport their fighters to go battle in the newly developed war. Soldiers used many weapons in their fights, either being things from knives and swords to guns and pistols. Air pilots piloted jets and dropped bombs overhead. But the strongest weapon that they fought with was macina. Macina was machinery, which was mostly used for fighting. Zanarkand was the city with the most productive macina of all regions, but even that was not enough to fight against their motherland, Spira.

After long months of fighting, a mysterious and extraordinary incident occurred. In Spira, most of the people who lived there believed in the god, Yeven. Aside from those who were non-believers, Yeven was a real existing god. After witnessing the selfish acts of those who fought in the war and how it had been caused in the first place, the gods of this world took a vase of action. They saw with their own eyes that those who lived on Spira were unappreciative of what the gods and Yeven had worked for by destroying what they had spent so much time in creating.

They were furious and felt that they needed to stop this ridiculous war. In doing so, they summoned a mysterious creature that they created by taking all the evils of the world and the terrible things that have been committed by those who lived on Spira and combined them into one deadly monster. After letting it out into the world, it attacked Spira rigorously. The war had been called to a halt as everyone tried to defend them selves from this "thing" that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to attack them.

Yeven and the other gods finally came to speak to the people after all had been turned into chaos. He told them that there was no way that they could be able to defend themselves against this dangerous creature. It could only be destroyed with mystical powers that were nonexistent to the beings of Gaia, and that the only way that they could rid themselves of this beast was to pray to the gods for forgiveness of what they have done to their world, so they did.

With the war being ended by the gods, everyone was relieved to not have to worry about fighting anymore, but they did have to worry about rebuilding their now war torn home. Spira was not as damaged as the two islands, for the battles mostly took place there. They had lost some soldiers and a lot of equipment, but nothing that they would have to struggle much with.

Al Bhed was in terrible conditions though. The land was destroyed and many lives had been lost. Plantations were now burnt charcoal that blew off smoke from the fires that burned the land. Their once beautiful nature had been ruined. Flowers and plants were tramped upon and trees were cut down. Not a single animal was in sight, for they went into hiding once the war had begun. The clear blue seawater turned into a murky green color that had rivers mixed with red from the blood of those who were killed fighting. Dead bodies overlapped the dirt-covered grounds with broken tools and unworkable weapons that lay nearby. The baby blue colored sky was nowhere to be seen over the thick gray fog that had engulfed the sky.

The people, who still lived in Al Bhed even up to this day, are now known as outcasts that are disliked and disrespected by those from Spira. But that was not as bad as the end result for Zanarkand; it was completely destroyed. Almost all lives were lost, the rest died from injury. Whoever was left perished from lack of resources that they needed to survive alone on the empty island. The once lively city now lies dead in ruins on the enormous island that rests in the deep blue sea, with nothing left of itself or the people who had once lived there, but faith.

After receiving news that Zanarkand was gone, Al Bhed sadly began to work on rebuilding their island that would not be completed by until the next couple of years to come. Spira did the same for itself, which would also last for the next couple years of its life. At the same time, though, everyone took the time to pray to the gods for forgiveness. Many could be seen going to temples or praying in their homes. With the pictures of the gods and Yeven hanging upon their walls, people lit candles and burned incense as they prayed daily to get rid of the monster that lurked the grounds of Earth.

After they prayed for a long period of time, the gods began to accept their forgiveness, making them consider using their own mystical powers to destroy the monster. Although the gods that protected all that was good, their creation was still an evil creature, causing it to get the attention of an even greater evil.

After a while, the gods were eventually satisfied, but came across a problem: an underworld god that was worshiped by evil attacked the creature by inserting a beetle, called Uyeven, into it. The beetle caused the gods to lose their control over the evil specimen that took orders from no one but it. The gods were very aware of this and felt regretful that they were unable to get rid of the creature that they had created before they lost control of it. The beetle, a powerful source of power, had made their plans of demolishing the creature ruined. They were strong, but even the gods didn't have enough power to annihilate the monster whose power has grown massively over this short period of time.

Soon afterward, it began attacking civilians and destroying all that was in sight, making the creature that was unknown become "Sin" because it was created by everything that was bad and from the awful things that were done by those who lived on Spira.

It was worst than it had been before it had been taken control over by the underworld god. Before, the monster was used to scare the people of Gaia, not to obliterate all life forms, but then, it seemed as though that was the only objective that Sin had. The gods knew that they had to do something fast before this monster causes any more destruction than it had already done, but they knew that they were unable to destroy it. They almost lost all hope when they finally realized that there may be one thing that could possibly be their only hope left: the power that was held by those that were called aeons.

Aeons were divine creatures with unique power and characteristics that could be used to destroy Sin. There was only one way that aeons could be called upon, if a summoner prays for them. In order for that to happen, the gods must find the chosen one that will have the ability to behold the great power of these magnificent creatures after they undergo a couple years of hard training. The problem was, the gods were not able to find the one that would be known as the chosen one. To find that one person, Yeven granted the beings of Spira with the ability to become summoners.

Because the process of becoming a summoner took a long period of time before successfully completing the training procedures, Yeven and the gods used as much of their strength as they could to put the creature at bay until they could find the one true summoner to defeat it.

There were people that were too young or too old to do it, and there were even those who did not want to become one. But for those who did, they began to train for the next few years until they were able to fully reach the potential that was needed in order to have complete control of the aeon's strong power. Those who completed their training would be seen going to temples all around Spira or Al Bhed to pray for an aeon. If they were successful, that would mean that they were chosen to become the one true summoner, if not, it will simply mean that the aeon does not feel that they should become their new master.

After two years of testing to see if they could be the one, the true summoner had finally been found. She was a young woman named Yuna Laska, a girl of sixteen years of age; she had marked history of becoming the world's first summoner when receiving the honor of becoming the master of the first aeon that the world had ever witnessed.

After being accepted by her first aeon, she was ready to go on her pilgrimage, a journey in which she must travel the world and visit different temples to pray for an aeon that would accept her to become their new master. Soon, after a few weeks had gone by, she finally traveled all over the world until she had visited all of the special temples that had aeons blessed in them.

Along the way, though, there was also a task that she was to complete. She had to choose those she trusted most to become her guardians, who afterward would be sworn to protect the summoner with their life. Once she had gone to all of the temples, it was time for her to get the final aeon.

One of the strict rules that a summoner must follow was that they were not allowed to go to the temple of the final summoning first. This was because if they did go there first, the end result for them could be death for they did not spend the time to develop their new summoning powers to its full level that was needed in order to handle the power of the final aeon.

Yuna Laska was able to retrieve the final aeon with success, and used it in the final battle against her enemy, Sin, but it was at an unexpected cost that the future summoners of her time would have to face. It was a difficult decision that she had to make on her own, which she felt that she was unable to do, but had no other choice. People were dying and she had to do it, even if it was something that she felt was not right.

Regretfully, she made the decision that had changed her life forever. After retrieving the final aeon, mournfully, but furiously, she went to into the final battle with a vengeance. She fought Sin and destroyed him completely with the help of the fighting skills of her guardians and the aeons that she had been blessed with from her pilgrimage. After Sin was destroyed, it disappeared without a trace, except for the beetle Uyeven that had been inserted into it before. The beetle came and took possession of the final aeon as it engulfed its life force into itself.

Afterwards, both the beetle Uyeven and the aeon were gone. After becoming a world famous hero, Yuna Laska returned home with her fellow guardians by her side as Spira thanked her for her greatness. She was happy for what she had accomplished, and the world appreciated it as much as the gods did, but it did not ease the pain in her heart for what she had done. As though a deep knife had cut through her beating heart, she could not stop the feeling of guilt that ate away at her conscience. She lived with this thing that she had called a mistake for the next five years. That was when the most unlikely thing occurred: Sin came back.

Uyeven, the beetle, had complete control over Sin when the underworld god inserted it into it. When Sin had been slain, the beetle was dying. It needed another subject with a powerful life source in order to live. To do that, Uyeven took control over the final aeon after the final battle was fought. Once the beetle had taken the final aeon, it spent the next five years forming itself into a creature, the duplicate form of Sin.

Yuna Laska stayed and fought for the second time, even when she was upset for having this incident occur again. She went through the same process, with the exception of the years of training and the pilgrimage. Once again, she had defeated Sin after paying the price for getting the final aeon. She had willingly gone into battle knowing that she would be fighting against an aeon that was once hers, but once the battle had been fought, Uyeven had once again stole the life source it needed to stay alive.

With much consideration, facts and figures that were calculated by the scientists of Spira showed that the only known way to defeat Sin was to complete the process of a summoner and go into the final battle. The problem was, Uyeven would repeatedly take the life source from the final aeon, turning itself into a duplicate form of Sin, and causing destruction every five years. After learning this theory, Yuna Laska fell ill. She had fought and survived the first two cycles of this evil creature, yet it would not die. She had lost a part of her that had meant so much to her, and the thought of having to fight against the evil form of her second aeon was unbearable.

Seeing that she was unstable for another round with the eternal Sin, Yeven ordered for the people of Spira to go into training once again in preparation of what they will have to face in another five years again. Months later, Yuna Laska, only twenty-two years of age, passed away.

She may have been a strong woman, but she was still as fragile as glass. Spira had mourned for the lost of this girl who had saved the lives of so many. As a memory of her life, Yeven and the gods built a temple, along with the statue of Yuna Laska inside of it, to represent her many sacrifices for others.

The temple, which was built on Zanarkand for memorable and protective purposes, became the place that all summoners had to go to in order to pray for the final summoning. Although Zanarkand was just a dead island, the only life forms that could be found there were civilians dedicated to looking after the temple. They heavily guarded it, along with the spirit form of Yuna Laska.

Yeven had made the decision to make her the official guardian of the final aeon as an honor to her many sacrifices, which she had sworn to protect for the future summoners to come.


	2. Chapter 1: Reminiscence

**Chapter 1: Reminiscence**

"_Go Zanarkand Abes!" By the sidelines of the blitz ball field, cheerleaders did backward flips and leaped up doing straddle jumps in the air. Forming a pyramid, the flyers had joyous smiles on their faces. They did a great job at getting the crowd fired up as they cheered on. _

"_Jecht! Jecht! Jecht!" The people in the audience began to chant loudly as they impatiently continued to wait. The bleachers were filled with what seemed to be thousands of people, all of different age range. Adults were squished on the ascending rows of the steel metal seats as they struggled to keep control of their wild children. Kids were all over the place, running and squealing when playing with their little friends. Teenagers were jumping up and down, screaming out cheers that they wrote for their favorite players. _

_The whole crowd was roaring with excitement. Who wouldn't? They were finally going to see their all time favorite blitz ball player, Jecht, at the world championship tournament. That was enough reason for people to go crazy over, but if that was so, why wasn't he happy about it? _

_A little boy, of the age of eight, stood by the sidelines of the playing field as he witnessed the audience's happy commotion. There were people who rushed by quickly. Cameramen and reporters were trying to find a decent place to shoot their digital camcorders with. Photographers that were from newspapers and magazine companies came to get a picture that would be worth wild on the front page for their daily paper that would hit the newsstands the next morning. The workers that had a job in the blitz ball arena were on their way to get to their posts before the game was about to start. _

_The little boy looked up to see an old woman wearing a business suit come by looking busy with her blabbing her mouth on a cell phone while checking her pocket planner at the same time. Hanging up on her caller, she accidentally bumped into him, apologizing quickly when she suddenly realized that it was just a kid in an unauthorized zone. She grabbed him firmly by the arm and led him away from that place to the area that the head coach of the Zanarkand Abes was at. _

"_Coach, you're going to have to keep this boy on a leash if I keep finding him where he's not suppose to be", the old woman said rudely when shoving him towards one of the benches that stood near a table covered with empty cups and drinks. _

"_Aw, give him a break, Freya!" Coach said with his whistle dangling around at his chest. "He's Jecht's boy! Let 'em go wherever he wants!" _

_Looking at the table, the little boy saw that a shy water girl was filling them with Gatorade as she clumsily spilled some of the contents onto the table. He walked over to the girl who had grabbed a fresh towel and was now cleaning up the mess she made while he continued to listen to Coach and the old woman named Freya drown on and on about him. _

"_Hi. Need some help?" the little boy offered as he saw the little girl look up at him with sparkling eyes. She seemed about a year younger than he was. She appeared harmless, but full of spirit. _

"_Yeah..." she threw the dirty towel onto the grass-covered ground as she laid out a new set of Styrofoam cups. He took a bottle of Gatorade that was chilling in a tub of ice and started to unscrew the cap when he broke the silence between them._

"_So... what's your name?" he asked politely._

"_Quistis", she replied. She held down the cups as the little boy began pouring liquid that came in many flavors into them. Looking around, he spotted a big trashcan sitting nearby that had a black plastic bag rounding the edge of the metal rims. Throwing away the empty bottles, he walked back to the little girl that was working on arranging the fully filled cups in a neat arrangement. Opening a few more bottles, Quistis ripped open a new batch of cups when they accidentally fell out of her small hands. "Oh!" she cried._

"_Here, let me help you", he said. _

"_I'm not very good at this..."she sobbed. Getting down on her knees, she picked up the cups that rested atop yellowish grass. _

"_Nah, don't worry 'bout it. You just need more experience", seeing her nod, he continued, "Anyway, I haven't seen you around before, are you the new water girl Coach was talking about?"_

"_Yes, the old water boy moved away so I took his place", she got up from the ground and placed the piled cups onto the table. Brushing away the dirt that clumped on to her light colored jeans, she cleaned her hands in a towel as she continued to do her job. _

"_Hmm... I was wondering where ol' Bob went", he teased even though he already knew that he was gone._

_Quistis laughed at his remark for the water boy Bob had been a strange fellow. Everyone knew it and it wasn't hard to see. He had mental problems, which was the reason for his sudden leave. He needed to be hospitalized in a special unit that was far from his home, causing him to quit his job, making the players of the Zanarkand Abes a bit grateful. Of course they felt sorry for the little guy, but he was known for being a major drool machine. He did not have any control over it, making the players feel not so thirsty after their practices. Of course, they were stuck with him, though, for no one had ever wanted to have the job of the team's water person. _

"_So how did you become a water girl?" he asked curiously. He began filling the new cups with more Gatorade. _

"_I like blitz ball", she told him. "My mom thinks it's too violent, but my dad loves coming to games to watch the Abes play. My mom didn't like me to watch them too much on TV, so when my dad heard that the old water boy was moving he signed me up to be the new water girl."_

_Glad to see that Quistis had loosened up a bit, he smiled as he asked, "So you like blitz ball too? Are you gonna be a player when you grow up?"_

"_I don't know yet, but that's why I wanted to be the water girl. You know, get pointers and all that. If I like how everything is, I might start training for try outs." He bobbed his head as he went to throw away the other empty bottles into the trashcan. "What about you? Aren't you going to join the team when you're old enough?"_

"_I'm not sure yet."_

"_But you should, you're dad's the star player."_

_Surprised, he looked at her only to see pleading eyes. He was amazed by how many different emotions Quistis could have in her eyes. Puzzled, he asked her, "How'd you know I was...?"_

"_Tidus, right?" she interrupted. "My dad reads me some of the stuff about blitz ball that he cuts out from the newspapers and magazines since I'm not so good at reading yet. I saw a picture of you and your dad last week. Star blitz ball player Jecht gets hug from son after winning last night's grand tournament! "She said the caption of a picture of one of the front page articles printed just a week before by memory. "You guys looked so happy!"_

"_Oh, that one..." the boy with the name of Tidus said remembering that picture. He saw it in the paper and had cut it out with scissors. Using small pieces of tape, he stuck it onto the wall of his room where he puts all the articles about blitz ball and his father. "Yeah, we were, weren't we?" _

"_You should be proud of him, he's my favorite player", Quistis scrunched her nose as she grinned happily at him. She had lost a few of her baby teeth, for there were also two spaces in her front teeth that were missing. _

"_That's what I thought too..." he mumbled to himself sadly._

"_What? You say something?" then her eyes widened as she pointed her index finger to something behind him. "Oh, look!" _

_Tidus saw the thrilled crowd leaping out of their seats hysterically. Shifting his gaze, he expectantly saw whom they were rooting for. Watching his father run out from the locker rooms and into the field, he flinched at the loudness of the crowd that cheered on their star player. _

_With his dark hair fluttering in the soft wind, a man, in his early thirties, ran out of the double doors wearing his safety equipment. Even under that exterior, people could still see the strong muscles that he had. It was one of the advantages that he had that helped him to be the best player on the team. With his pearl white teeth and scrunched skin near the corners of his eyes, he smiled at the crowd as they filled the air with echoes of good luck wishes. He walked confidently over to his Coach where the rest of the team had been. After speaking to the chubby man, they jogged off to the entrance water chamber where they were to play their game. _

_Coach stood by happily when he saw Tidus standing there with a frown. "Hey! What's the matter with you, boy?" he locked his shoulders with his big arm as he spoke to him. "You should be takin' notes. One day, those great blitz ball playin' genes of your father's is gonna get you on the team! So perk up a bit, eh?" _

_Even though he knew Coach for a majority of the few years of his life, he still couldn't imagine working with a loudmouth like him, even with the fact that he still wasn't sure if he was going to play blitz ball in the future or not. Watching his father get into position in the water chamber, he suddenly remembered why he had been feeling glum; he had caught his so-called perfect father drinking yet another bottle of alcohol. Closing his eyes, he had a flashback at what had happened just hours before in the locker room. _

"_Dad! What are you doing?" the little boy said earlier when he was walking into the empty room that was filled with rows of scratched blue colored lockers._

"_Tidus? Ah son, it's you..." the man said wobbly as he took another gulp of the strong liquid from a clear glass bottle. There was a sticker on it, but the words on the label were too small for him to read from where he was. _

"_Come on Dad, I'll take you home", Tidus said through worried eyes. Putting one arm over his shoulder, he began to lift his father up from the crooked stool that sat next to a rolling cart filled with clean towels._

"_Hey!" he screamed as he pushed him off. Stumbling backwards, he sat on the stool before completely falling over._

"_Dad, you're drunk!" he said. "You've got a game today! You can't be drinking now!"_

"_Don't take that tone with me boy", he warned with a slurred accent. "I'm you're father and you gotta do as I say, not the other way around!"_

"_But you know how much Mom—"_

"_What 'bout her?" he said uncaringly. "She's gon worry 'bout me like she'd do ev'ry night? Why do women gotta be so damn nosy, huh?" _

"_Because you're always out drinking all the time! She's your wife! You could at least take care of her!"_

"_Since when did you become a saint? Jeez, you're startin' to sound more like your mother ev'ry day", he said taking his finger and pushing Tidus's head away. Taking another gulp of alcohol, Tidus felt his anger reach its peak. He took the bottle from his father and flung it across the locker room, splashing the contents in all directions before it crashed into a row of metal lockers as it broke upon impact and shattered into little pieces. His father, being drunk, was slow and took a few seconds before he was able to comprehend what his son had just done. _

_"You lil bastard! Who d' you think you are?!" he grabbed Tidus by the arm firmly squeezing it in his strong hands. _

_"Ow! Dad stop!" he cried. He suddenly felt very scared and did not know what to do. He took his free arm and wiped the tears that were beginning to stream down his face. _

_"Oh, I see, so you're a wimp now, huh?" his father said loudly, "No son of mine is a wimp!" He raised his hand, as he was about to hit him smack in the face. Being a blitz ball player, Tidus knew that his father could hit really hard and that this was going to hurt badly. He was too weak against him though, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get free of his father's strong grip._

_"No!" he yelled. "Dad! No!"_


	3. Chapter 2: Leaving Home

**Chapter 2: Leaving Home**

"Tidus!" someone was shaking him.

"Dad, no!" the young teenager tore his eyes open to see his old friend, Quistis, gripping him by the shoulders with concern. She was no longer that little girl he spoke to in his dream, but a grown teenager like himself.

"Uh… sorry Tidus, your father ain't here," Jaxx said sadly.

"W-What happened?" he said. His voice was trembling and his body shook with confusion. He wiped away the line of sweat that formed over his lip.

"You were kinda out of it there. We've been callin' you for the past minute," Jaxx told him.

"Man, you aight…?" asked one of his other friends.

He looked around to see his fellow teammates looking at him trying to figure out what all the commotion was all about. He found himself still sitting on one of the cushioned seats of the special charter bus that was driving him and his teammates to the central stadium for their world championship blitz ball game.

His face was drenched with sweat and his eyes were unfocused. Feeling a bit nauseated, he replied. "Oh, uh…" he said rubbing the back of his neck, "Nothing, I'm fine, you guys, really. I just fell asleep, that's all."

"Sure 'bout that?" someone else asked. "Sounded like your father was in it too."

"…" He hoped he did not say anything personal out loud.

"Look, if the guy says he's ok, he's ok! Now leave him alone, we're almost there!" Quistis said hushing everyone on the bus.

Tidus watched his teammates slowly go back to doing whatever they were doing before his little "episode". _It was just a dream, it wasn't real…_ he told himself. He tried to calm himself down by taking slow, deep breaths. It felt so real. _Because it did happen…_ He still remembered what his father had done to him at that moment and he'd never forget it. He hated him and that was that. Sighing, he looked up at Quistis.

"Thanks", Tidus said to her with a weak smile.

"No problem, Ti", she said. "You just take care of yourself, ok? And I really mean that too. You don't look so well today."

"Yeah, I know." He shifted his gaze to the window as he watched cars swerving pass the bus and the yellow stripes that marked the black pavement of the road go by. His skull was beating with an oncoming headache as he rubbed his temples with his strong fingers.

"So…was it another dream?" Tidus looked at her again surprised that she still had not gotten over the topic.

"What about it?" he wasn't exactly in the mood to talk about his problems at that moment, especially before an important game where he needs to keep his focus.

"I'm not stupid. You've been having weird dreams lately about your past, even ones that don't make any sense," she grasped his free hand and held it tight while she spoke. "And today's sounded like your father was in it again."

He exhaled sharply and shook his head. "I dunno. I guess I'm just under pressure. You know how Coach is."

"But Tidus…" she began. "You probably don't even notice it, but you've been way off your game lately. And I know it's not just because Coach has been giving you a hard time. Seems more to me that there's something more that you need to figure out."

"I know, I know," he surrendered. "It's not that I'm trying to hide this or anything, I just don't get what's happening to me. One day I'm fine, the next I start having dreams for no reason! My dad's been gone for years now, why would I even think about him? But he's not the only thing I dream about, there are even times I'm in some bizarre place I've never seen in my life! What's does it all mean?"

"Tidus! Calm down!" Quistis tried to hold him down while he sprung up from his seat. His teammates were watching him again. Tidus sat down resting his head on his hands. He stared at his blitz ball shoes trying to relax.

"I'm sorry, Quistis," he whispered. "What's wrong with me…?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Ti, don't worry about it. We'll figure this out somehow." With a nod of assurance, Tidus smiled with appreciation. What would he do without his best friend?

"You know," he began. "I was dreaming about the day we first met."

She sat trying to remember how they had met. Her eyes lit up as she smiled, "Aw! I almost forgot about that!"

They laughed together before the bus came to a stop. The bus driver pulled a lever that opened the two doors in the front and the middle of the bus. The door in the back that leads to the mini bathroom opened with a teammate rushing out to get her stuff before the lane crowded with people.

Tidus grabbed his bag filled with all he needed for the big game that night and patiently waited until he finally stepped down the steps of the bus and into the scorching sun. It was late in the afternoon, but the sun was still up pretty high in the sky. He walked with Jaxx who was talking about the game, while Quistis went to talk with her girl friends. He was glad for the peacefulness though. Tidus expected there to be a huge crowd gathered in front of the stadium entrance and storming towards him and his teammates once they arrived like every other game. _Or not, _he thought.

At that moment, the numerous double doors of the stadium slid open as people came pouring out from the air condition into the heated sidewalks where the players of the Zanarkand Abes walked with a look of amusement on their faces. Luckily, the city patrols had a walkway fenced about four feet high to prevent chaos for the players.

"Here we go," Jaxx mumbled as they prepared themselves for screaming fans and autograph signings.

The patrols walked in front and behind the team leading them to the locker rooms while the players scribbled their names on electric notebook pads and pictures of their team. Half the people there seemed to have cameras with them, for bright flashes and the continuous sound of clicking shutters surrounded them. It was loud considering that the crowd was a big size, but not as loud compared to the volume that will be in the stadium once the game begins.

Finally, everyone got to the locker room where a computer touch-screen stood in one corner. On it were some new plays that the Coach had drawn there earlier. The patrols went back to their posts while the team settled onto the benches with their bags resting besides their feet. Coach was no where to be seen, for he drove to the stadium himself a few hours before they had arrived. Locker doors began opening and shutting with a bang, and the players began moving about actively, preparing themselves for the game ahead of them.

"Good luck, man", said one of his teammates. Slapping him on the back, his eyes burned with excitement as he began doing his warm up exercises to prepare for the blitz ball game, a sport combined with soccer and football that is played in a chamber filled with gravitated water.

"Yeah, you too, Laguna", replied the 17-year-old boy who was warming up also. As the stray strands of his short blonde hair fall across his forehead, he bent down to stretch out his muscular legs. He watched as his coach slammed through the door, looking furiously red as though he had just come out of a fierce argument, as he began speaking to his players.

"Alright boys!" he screamed, "That piece of crap they call 'Coach' ain't nothin' but a two-faced jerk with nothin' on us! So get your butts out there and show 'em what blitz ball really is!" Continuing the demanding pep talk, the coach drowned on and on about beating the other team and showing their "loser" coach that he does not have the skills to make his players into a good team.

_Sure thing, Coach, _Tidus thought. Blocking out the yelling of the plump old man, he began to visualize the game. It was something he did before any other game, preparing himself mentally besides just physically.

Just then, a young woman, small and thin and ranging about in her mid thirties, came in carrying a clipboard and wearing a headset. Looking flushed with exhaustion, she told the coach that it was time for the game to begin.

The coach walked out eagerly, followed by the fully equipped team, but Tidus was the last to leave, for something had begun to bother him. He was not able to have complete focus of himself and was beginning to feel insecure about it. He felt distracted for some odd reason, a reason that he could not precisely describe. Then it happened: visions blurred his mind as he remembered the dream that he had dreamt of earlier that day.

"Hey man, you ok…?" Tidus's visions cleared as he looked up to see that Irvine was standing at the rusted metal hinged door as he said worriedly, "If you're not feelin' to good maybe you should just sit this one out."

Shaking his head, Tidus stood up and walked a bit to keep from thinking of the dream. Running his fingers through his spiky hair, he said, "Nah, it's alright. Besides, I'd rather play then get my butt whooped by Coach."

"Hehe, you crack me up, Ti, you know that?" Irvine laughed as he called him by his nickname. He walked into the locker room and sat down on one of the wooden benches that appeared to have been cleanly polished recently. "But don't forget what I said, you know how bad Zidane wants to be star player." Remembering one of his other teammates, Tidus guiltily thought of him, knowing that while they had always been friends, he had been jealous of him for years.

"Yeah, well, that's his problem. Our problem right now is to get out there and hope Coach doesn't get a heart attack anytime soon." Tidus said as he began to walk out of the locker room.

"Look, you sure there's nothin' up, cause the past couple days you seemed pretty out of it."

Tidus paused before he reached the door. He looked down at the cracked tile floor, feeling the anxiety of his visions begin to rise again. Shaking it off, he said, "Really, I'm ok. I…I dunno, I guess I haven't been sleeping too well lately."

"Oh, well I guess that's—"

"What the hell are you boys still doin' in here?" Coach interrupted as he stormed into the locker room. "You're suppose to be out there playin' blitz ball, not playin' 'share and tell'!"

"Sorry Coach", the teammate said apologetically, "I was just seeing if Ti's ok—"

"I don't give a damn what you're doin' here, just get out there and play is all I ask!" Irvine got up and left with an exasperated sigh as the Coach turned to Tidus. "Yeah, I know, I know. All season I've been workin' your butts off, but you know how much I want you guys to be at the top", when Tidus finally nodded he continued, "I know that somethin' must be up with you. I've been seein' you a little bit off in your game lately, but just do your best and give it your all, all right? Besides, it's the championship play-off game!"

It's been a while since Tidus had seen his coach on the soft side, which in Coach's case is a soft side, but what do you expect for his most valuable player? "Yes sir", he replied.

"Alright, so what're you waiting for? Get out there and make me proud!" Tidus smiled at Coach's returned spark. Tidus hurried out as he reached to open the double doors that led to the stadium. Once he went through, he was instantly blinded from the white flashes of the people who tried to take pictures with their camera. He ran out into the large stadium to find it packed with people who were stirring loudly as they got seated on the steel metal bleachers from arriving for the game or just coming from buying their ice-cold sodas and snacks. There were others that were already seated in the bottom rows of the bleachers who were trying to get autographs from the players on the field.

Those who sat farther from the field were yelling loudly, a thing for them to do in order to keep themselves from springing out of their seats from the excitement of actually being at a blitz ball game. The big television screens that hung inside the outdoor stadium revealed excited people who waved happily at the cameras that taped the game that was to be broadcast later that night. Feeling at home, Tidus jogged over to his team to be greeted by cheers that were coming from the high volume screeching of the crowd. Giving high fives, he saw that the visiting team had already begun to get into their positions inside the water chamber.

"Alright guys, let's do it!" Tidus screamed. Piling their hands, one on top of the other, they grunted, "1, 2, 3, WIN!" They hollered together as they walked into the water chamber. Stepping onto the platform that led to the upper deck of the water chamber, Tidus and his teammates took a deep breath of air before they were let out into the water field. After they took their positions, opposite of the other team, they got prepared to swim for the ball.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a little man announced. He was the speaker of the night and showed nothing but enthusiasm, as he appeared to be honored to be the host of such a special event. "Welcome to the championship game for blitz ball!" The crowd roared with anticipation, as the game was to begin. Pipes that were located under the chamber led to wide holes on the floor of the field that pumped out air bubbles filled with oxygen. Every couple of seconds, they pumped out air bubbles for the players to breathe once their air runs out. There was a hatchet at the bottom of the water chamber that lets out the ball used to play the game that was controlled to open and close electronically. When it finally opened, the crowd became silent as they waited for the ball to shoot out of the hatchet. _Swish! _The ascending volume of the crowd was sounded through the liquid walls as the ball had been released. Zidane was the first to swim for the ball. He got it! Swimming swiftly, he expertly passed the ball to one of his teammates, Steiner. Steiner, being known as the team's fastest swimmer, with Tidus just a few seconds slower, glided through the water as he beamed the ball into the other team's goal. "Score!" the announcer had exclaimed. Getting back to their sides, the ball had been released once more. This time, though, the other team had gotten to it first.

_They've obviously been practicing… _Tidus thought as he saw that his opponents were more skilled then what he had witnessed from before. Viewing the past games of his opponents that was taped on a videocassette, he studied it on the television screen and remembered that they had played like an excellent team, but here they played even tougher. _Probably championship pressure, _he suggested. They had failed to score a goal with their last shot, but soon recovered with a rebound as they scored their first point.

"It's now tied 1 all!" the crowd was entranced into the game as they ate their snacks while cheering on their favorite players. The ball had been shot out into the water field and the ball had gone to the other team once again. Steiner, who had swam even his quickest, was unable to block the ball that flew toward his team's goal.

"The score is now 2 for the visitors and 1 for the home team!"

_I am really starting to hate that guy…_Tidus thought to himself. The ball was finally theirs, as it was passed to his teammate, Jaxx. He swam swiftly, dodging the oncoming players from the other team that roughly played their defense against them as hard as they could. They were obviously determined to win. Because of the water, they were unable to call out plays to their other teammates, but Tidus's thoughts were interrupted as he saw his friend signaling a pass to him. The ball went flying through the water as he caught it. _Game time, _Tidus thought. He blocked out the sounds coming from around him as he swam towards the goal. Shooting it as fast as a gun, the ball swished passed the defense players on the other team and into their goal.

The crowd had seem to get louder and louder by the minute. Heavy music filled the air as fans crazily waved their arms in glee. Before the ball was released, Tidus took a gulp of air from a bubble that floated upward to be disposed of out of the chamber. When the ball had been let out once again, Tidus was back in game mode and went straight to it.

Retrieving the ball, he saw that three players were about to gang up on him. By instinct, he threw the ball straight upward as he followed it into the air, flying above the gravitated water as he begun to flip backwards to kick it back into the chamber, but suddenly stopped. Something had caught his eye, something that had felt familiar to him. _No, not now! _Tidus panicked as he thought that it was another vision that was going to swallow his mind.

"What the…?" Tidus squinted at the faraway object as he began to realize that this time, his mind was not playing games with him. He had come to see that the object was actually a living creature, an oddly dangerous looking monster that had come out of nowhere.

Everything had seemed to move in slow motion since he had gone to fetch the ball that had flown overhead. He had forgotten about the game when he suddenly felt his body fall downward. He braced himself for the impact against the water that was going to feel like a thousand needles striking him at once.

Everyone looked to see what was so intimidating that would make him miss the ball and slam into the water. As Tidus finally regained control of himself, he heard that the crowd was just as loud as it had been, but not because they were cheering, but because they were screaming with horror when they saw that a mysterious creature had infested their great city.

In a minute, what had started as loud commotion had turned into complete chaos. The terrified audience started to panic and hurriedly exit the stadium as both teams was brought out of the water chamber.

_Boom! _A bright light was beamed at one of the big television screens as it fell towards the bleachers. Rushing to get out of the way, everyone's head turned to look at what had caused the big blast. The unknown creature had spotted the location of where the majority of the city's population was at and was starting to attack it with treacherous laser beams. The players were running towards the locker rooms when Tidus stopped to see that his coach was standing there, paralyzed. "What…what is that thing…" the coach managed to stumble out.

"Coach! What are you doing? We have to get out of here, NOW!" Tidus dragged his coach out with a bit of difficulty.

"Tidus!" he turned to see that the late assistant coach had finally arrived to the game when he told him that he would look after Coach for him, so Tidus was free to escape. Feeling reassured, he began to sprint, stripping off his equipment while he ran, as he left the stadium when he saw a familiar looking man.

"Auron…?" Realizing that it was actually he, he shouted, " Auron! What are you doing here?" He had not seen his friend for nearly months now and was curious to know where he had been all this time.

"Tidus….", Auron looked at him as he spoke calmly. "Come, we have to go."

"What? But, but wait, why are you—?"

"There's no time to explain. We must go," he said stiffly.

They ran for a while, dodging any incoming danger and avoiding the enemy. Bodies littered the floors of the city, and many were injured from the attacks coming from the creature. They passed the cries of infants that were scared, and children that tried to find their lost parents.

"What are you doing?" Auron asked when he saw that Tidus had stopped.

"Wait, we gotta help those kids first."

"There's no time, we have to keep moving", was his only remark.

"But they're just kids!" Tidus argued, "It's too dangerous out here! What if something happens to them?"

"They are not our responsibility", Auron said seriously, "Our problem right now is get out of here and make sure that nothing happens to you!"

They continued on, passing adults that suffered from massive injuries or helping others that needed it. "Where are we going?" the silence began to bother him. He went on impatiently, "Where are we—?"

"Look out!" Auron warned as Tidus luckily dodged from a speeding mini pod. There were many of them that came along with it. They landed firmly through the concrete ground, causing the stone hard floor to crumble into bits and chunks of rock.

"What are those…?" Tidus asked curiously as he felt his body get drawn towards the steam blowing mini pods.

"Hold it", Auron said as he gestured his arm up to stop him from moving any more forward.

The mini pods opened, revealing alien like creatures that crawled out, showing their sharp claws and harsh glowing eyes. They were short, but looked deadly. Their bluish black hard-shell backs were unscratched from the impact of crashing into the ground. They surrounded them, making Tidus uneasy.

"Here", the man said. Tidus looked to see what he was talking about. In his hand he held a sword, a sword about half his height that glistened at the reflected light that shone brightly around it. Handing it to him, Tidus nearly dropped it when realizing how heavy it actually was. Getting a firm grip, he held the sword up as he heard Auron speak, "It's from your father. He wanted me to make sure I gave it to you."

"What?" Tidus yelled surprised. "My old man gave me this?"

"Yeah, know how to use it?" Auron asked referring to the oncoming enemy that was ready to attack.

"I think I can handle it", Tidus smirked while positioning himself. His father was a multi talented guy. He use to be a pretty good swordsman back when he existed… When Tidus was younger, his father taught him a thing or two about using a sword, although his father wasn't always around back then.

The monsters went and attacked, showing that they had no mercy. His arms screamed with pain that arose from the impact of the clash between the heavy sword and the monster.

"Ah!" he let out as he began to violently slash his way through. Auron followed his lead as they made their way out of the group of monsters. They had finally found a clear path and sprinted across a wide bridge. More mini pods landed there, causing a deep crack to crease into the brick stoned bridge.

Tidus fought alongside with Auron, each striking the monsters that seem to continuously multiply into more and more. The big creature that had infested the city seemed to be the one that kept supplying the place with more and more monsters. The waving tentacles that were attached to the bizarre creature seem to be shedding them, group by group, launching them in different directions while attacking certain places at the same time.

"Look! Over there!" Auron pointed to Tidus. It looked like an electrical computer that was out of the ordinary in Zanarkand, but somehow it appeared to be linked to the little creatures shedding from the monster. "It seems to be some sort of power source for the monsters. Maybe if we destroy it, we can stop them from attacking."

After giving it a little bit of thought, Tidus gave in. "It's not like we have a choice anyway. Let's do it!"

They tried to find an opportunity to destroy the electrical computer but were unable to get one. The monsters were everywhere, taking the valuable time that Auron needed to get Tidus out of there.

"Tidus! Now!" the man yelled as he saw that the young boy was able to get to the gadget. With a struggling movement, Tidus struck it causing it to be badly damaged. Tidus protected his eyes as sparks flew from the gadget.

"Dammit! We need to keep striking it!" Tidus had been ambushed with another swarm of monsters now.

They caused him to back away from the computer, making him irritated. They had caught on to their plan and were viciously attacking to make sure that he and Auron do not get to the gadget. They may have been able to move in rapid movements, but they were too sluggish to notice that Auron had already found the perfect opportunity and was closing in on the box as he rushed to destroy it. With quickly trained movements, he struck the power box, causing it to shatter apart, making the monsters stop functioning.

Tidus ran up to Auron, thinking that the worst was over, but he had forgotten that there was still another enemy out there that he and Auron had to face. Seeing that they have found a way to stop the monsters, the large creature came to battle against them both.

Seeing the monsters fall lifelessly, Tidus got up from the ground. With a tired sigh, he went to speak to Auron, but lost his chance before he got to him. The bridge began to shake violently. "Auron! We gotta get off this bridge! The impact from those monster things must have made it unstable!" Even after yelling, Auron still would not budge. "Auron! AURON!"

He turned to look him in the eye as the bridge suddenly split and was leveled. Auron stood there looking down at Tidus, who was desperately climbing the rocky ends of the now broken bridge. "Auron! Look out!" He was referring to the sky, which suddenly became an alien like portal that seemed to lead to somewhere mysterious. Sucking up everything like a powerful vacuum, Tidus felt winds, stronger than those of tornadoes and hurricanes, blow in thick gusts making everything fly into the air. Tidus was fully aware of the fact that if they did not do something soon, they would get sucked into the sky also. Looking at Orin, he had come to see that he had not taken his eyes off him.

"Comon Auron! We gotta get outta here before that—thing—gets us!" Tidus was hanging there as Auron bent down to help him get up, but suddenly gripped the collar of his shirt tightly. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Tidus screamed as he looked into the unseen eyes of his once old friend.

"I'm sorry Tidus, but there is no other way."

"Wha----aaahhhhh!" Tidus yelled as the alien-turned sky began to take hold of him. He was getting sucked into the mysterious blackness of the center of it. "Auron! Wait! Auron, please! Ah!"

There was nothing he could do. All he did was peer through the thickness of the dark cloud that fogged the air to see the last site he will ever see of his world: the turned back of Auron, the man who he had come to think had just set him up. He also looked at the crumbled bridge, the bridge that he had once walked upon so many times in his life.

_Is this it? Am I going to die? _Those were the only thoughts that had crossed his mind in those few seconds that he had been levitated into the air. He was beginning to be blown away even closer to the dark hole. Watching in terror, he went through the vertex of the opening in the sky, only to see that everything had gone black.


	4. Chapter 3: Attack of the Sea Dragon

**Chapter 3: Attack of the Sea Dragon**

"_Ooh", _Tidus groaned as his eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" he said quietly as he started to feel something moving on his stomach. "Ah!" Tidus screamed as he shook off an odd looking creature that had crawled on top of him with sharp legs. Getting a closer look, he laughed at himself when he realized that it was just a crab. Sitting up, Tidus suddenly shut his eyes as they burned with pain that was caused from the brightness of the light of the sun that reflected off the surface of the clear blue water. He finally opened them again, carefully this time, squinting to see where he was. He looked up to find a tiny island that rested in a sea of blueness. Light waves rolled onto the white sand, making him feel a sense of familiarity.

_It can't be… _Tidus thought as he searched his mind to remember where he had once seen this body of water. Finally, he remembered one of the dreams that he had dreamt of not too long ago. He had been up in the air with nothing to see but shadows that lie deep in every corner that had surrounded him. Unexpectedly, the dark hole beneath him had opened up to reveal a blue sea, just like the one he was staring at, and was dropped into it while he was still in a state of unconsciousness. He landed hard into the water, and miraculously, drifted onto the shore of the island in which he had woken up. He knew that he did not have psychic abilities, yet how was it possible for him to have a dreamt about a future for himself that he had not expected to happen?

Tidus stood up quickly, which he soon regretted doing when he began to sway from side to side. Blood rushed to his head, causing him to feel dizzy. When his eyesight was clear of the spotted colors that temporarily blinded his vision, he looked at his surroundings to find barely anything there. The island was small, with a diameter of about half a mile long. There were no signs of any inhabitants living on what appears to be a deserted island, and not a single piece of food was in sight. The only things that existed on the island were short grass areas with tall, but thin, trees. Only a single leaf, the color of a rotten apple, was left lingering on a dead branch.

With nothing else to do, Tidus began to walk around the island, looking to see if there was any possible way to survive for at least one night on the lonesome island. All that was seen were the things he already saw on the other side of the island: dead grass and trees. After searching every corner of the island, he finally spotted a miniature oasis that had clean water. Grateful to find fresh water he could drink, he leaned over to take handful scoops of the cool water that slid down his dry throat and instantly felt rejuvenated.

The impossibility of being able to stay on the island for long had begun to set in when Tidus decided to try finding another place he could possibly go to. Peering over the long stretches of seawater all that could be seen around the island was the body of water that seemed to reach endlessly outward without a thing to see. The sun was shining even brighter in the sky now and was reflecting over the surface of the sea, which prevented him from seeing anything without being blinded from the intensity of its burning light. Thinking there was nothing in that direction anyway, he frowned as he thought all was hopeless and gave up on trying to search anymore than he could. _Dammit, what am I gonna do now? _Tidus thought worriedly.

After hours went by, Tidus was found sitting by the oasis, which he drank the water from every now and then to keep him from dehydrating. All he could do was wait to see if there was a chance that he could find a way to get off the island, but could not. How could he if there was nowhere to go? His stomach was beginning to growl with famine. Without food, he was not able to satisfy his hunger, but drank more water in place of it. The sun was beginning to set now and he knew that he needed to find a way to stay warm for the night when he began to feel cool gusts blowing gently against his tanned skin. He started to get up when all of the sudden, his eyes widened with astonishment when he discovered that there was actually land across the sea.

_Why didn't I see that earlier! _Tidus asked questioningly when he remembered that he was blinded from the sunlight that reflected in the same direction where the large piece of land stands. Calculating the distance, he was disappointed to see that the swim would be pretty far. _Hmm… beats staying here, _Tidus shrugged. _But how am I gonna make it all the way over there?_

"Ok, Ti, just think of it this way: you just lost a game and Coach is now torturing you with anger management problems", even after giving himself a pep talk, it did not help with the uncertainty that he felt in his gut. He had been put through difficult training that was involved with water exercises along with all his games and practices, but this was different. This swim did not guarantee his safety and was a risky move to carry out, especially when nightfall was coming close.

He shook his head with disappointment. _What are you scared of Ti! _Tidus thought angrily. _This is nothin'. You can do this! _His past experiences of accepting challenges from his fellow teammates and friends had given him a reputation of being fearless. He never stepped out of a dare; he had never left a challenge undefeated.

"Well", Tidus said with a sigh, "Here goes nothin'." After feeling confident about his plan of swimming to the land on the other side of the sea, he stretched himself out to warm up for the long swim. Finally, he was ready to go. The sun was beginning to touch the faraway edge of the sea as Tidus walked into the water. It felt cool as it soaked through his clothes, giving him a little chill. When the water was shallow enough, he began to swim, kicking his long legs up and down while stroking his strong arms into the sea. With the water being so deep, he looked down to the bottom of the sea floor as he moved forward while watching a multicolored school of fish swimming together like synchronized swimmers. He swam and swam for about an hour and a half when he stopped for a break. While bobbing at the surface of the water, he discovered that he still had more than half way to go.

"Ah! The hell…?" Tidus hollered surprised when he suddenly felt something graze his left leg. He searched the water looking for what he had just come across. Having the sun dimly lit since it was halfway set made it hard to see what was beneath him. With his heart pumping fast, he became fully aware of the fact that he might not be alone in the sea, not including the fish that swam below him. _Maybe it was just a fish, _Tidus hoped as he began to swim on cautiously. He swam for another half hour when he thought he saw something swim at the sea floor.

"Jeez! What was that?" Tidus exclaimed. Stopping, he looked at the mysterious figure that caught his eye. He could not get a good look at it since it was so far under the water, but he knew that it was not something he would want to mess with. He swam on praying that it did not see him. He tried desperately to escape from the mysterious figure that stayed near the bottom of the sea, but failed when he saw that a dark shadow was swimming straight towards him!

"Dammit!" Tidus yelled as he started to swim as fast as he could. No matter how hard he swam, he was not able to beat the swift speed of the mysterious figure. It headed straight toward Tidus, knocking the air out of his lungs as he was shot about twenty feet into the air. Flying a large distance away from the creature that had just made him air born, Tidus landed back in the water with a big splash as he swam upward gasping for air. Tidus finally got the chance to get a good look at the monster and figured that what he saw was a sea creature, a dragon of some sort that screeched with anger. It was a sea dragon about three times his size. It had silver coating with hints of purple gills that flapped slowly against its cheeks. Its bony arms had thick black claws on its fingers and wide wings that revealed its ability to fly in the air as well as to swim in the water. It was all Tidus was able to see before he saw the sea dragon reversing its direction to head towards him again.

"Hey! What did I do to you!" Tidus asked when it crossed his mind that there was a possibility that the creature was thinking that he was an enemy that was trying to invade its territory. _It sure is acting protective over it! _Tidus thought as he discovered that because of the painful throw of the sea dragon, he was saved the trouble of swimming for another hour when he saw that the shore of the land was closer than it had been before his confrontation with the territorial monster. _Good I only got less than half way to go_, Tidus thought thankfully.

The sea dragon was finally spotted again when its head sprung out of the water's surface in curved movements. It was not going to let an unknown enemy off the hook that easily. When Tidus saw that it was on its way to slam into him again, he knew that this time he was going to end up breaking something. _All right, if you wanna have it your way, _Tidus thought getting into position._ Then bring it on._

The sea dragon was about to resurface to knock him up into the air again, but then Tidus swiftly rolled to the side causing it miss its target. When he was in training for the championship games, he had to be able to move in the water in rapid movements for agility. The sea dragon rose over the water again, revealing something that Tidus had not noticed from his description from before: the sea dragon had a red symbol on its abdomen that looked like a unique spiral inside a triangle. Turning around to go after Tidus, the sea dragon went even faster in speed. "Woah!" Tidus yelled when the high-speed monster nearly hit him.

The now frustrated sea dragon had come to realization that this new enemy was more skilled then it had thought he would be. It let out a cry when it went to attack Tidus. Waiting for the right moment, Tidus tumbled just in the nick of time to get on the back of the dragon. He held onto the short spikes that were attached to the back of the monster as it swam through the top of the water surface. The splashing of the water that was caused by the rapid movements of the sea dragon hurt when they hit his face making it feel numb afterward when the sea dragon dove under without warning.

Tidus held his breath as long as he could. In blitz ball, there were no oxygen tanks to assist the players in breathing under water. They had to make sure that their breath was held for long periods of time before they are allowed to resurface again. Only those that are specially trained are able to do such a thing without causing permanent damage to them in their body and brain. The sea dragon struggled to get its enemy off its back but was unable to. It swam around tumbling in circles, upside down, and side-to-side. It got aggressive when it began to slam into the walls of the sea floor in attempt to get him off. Tidus, who still held on for dear life was starting to run low on air. They had been underwater for a long time now and he knew that he would have to resurface in the next couple of minutes.

Using all of his strength, he steered the sea dragon upward only to fail. A forceful whip of its body made Tidus loose his strong held grip as he was slammed into one of the rocky walls that were green from the seaweed that grew in between the cracks of it. "Oomph!" Tidus's air supply was now low and he needed air fast. The pressure was getting to him as he let out air through his mouth and nose. Air bubbles blocked his sight on showing him where the surface of the water was. He kicked his legs feeling a cramp form deep in his calve muscles. "Ugh!" the muffled sound of him was let out the second time for he had been strike by the sea dragon. He accidentally swallowed a huge gulp of sea water caused from the impact of the sea dragon. He had no oxygen in his lungs now and was struggling to keep himself from drowning.

He tried to keep full control of himself and kept swimming upward. His heart rate was slowing down; his lungs burned with dryness; he could not breathe. _I need air! _ Tidus heard his mind say as he concentrated on getting to the surface. "Aahh!" he screamed as he swallowed deep gulps of air. He could feel his heartbeats quicken and the functioning in his body return back to its normal rate. He continued to take sharp gasps when he felt a wave of water rush toward him again. _Jeez, does this thing ever give up? _Tidus thought as he pulled out his sword. He was not thinking about killing it, but there was no other way he could escape from the violent creature. He waited as the sea dragon made its way through the blue water as Tidus went not sideways, but downward this time. It took the monster by surprise when Tidus took his sword and drove it up into the dragon causing a massive slit to open from its neck to its lower abdomen. The dragon, now in panicked pain, was swimming uncontrollably as it made no attempt to calm itself down.

"Yes! Here's my chance!" Tidus said gladly as he swam away from the trail of blood cleanly left by the injured sea dragon. The shore was close now, which saved Tidus half the time it would have taken for him to swim straight there without any detours. He put his sword back into its hilt as he swam up to shore with difficulty. His legs were really cramping now, making him swim slowly. _Oh no, _Tidus thought when he saw the dragon was recovered from its frantic panicking.

"Crap", he said silently as he tried to swim fast to shore. The sea floor was not yet shallow, but he could almost be able to walk on it. Because of the injury, the sea dragon appeared to not be able to swim nearly as fast as it had when it first attacked Tidus. He tried to dive down in hope that it would help delay the dragon from finding its target any sooner than it would. It worked, just barely. Tidus swam on, hidden under the water until he was able to make contact with the sanded floor of the sea. He kept on running until he was out of the water. Collapsing with exhaustion, he breathed heavily while being fully aware that the sea dragon might still be after him.

"I'm not in your territory any more!" Tidus screamed at the monster, "Leave me alone!"

But it would not. He had just scarred the dragon with a painful slash and it was not going to leave without getting its revenge. "Oh com'on!" Tidus complained. He made a run for the tree brush area that stood tall by the shore of the land and hid behind one of the tree trunks. He was in no condition to fight with a big monster like that, not alone. The sea dragon's head was waving in the curvy motion like it had once before, but now it spread its wings. Bid droplets of water dripped from it from being soaked with seawater as it flocked making the dragon fly into the air. Flying towards the tree that Tidus hid under, the sea dragon flew past it, cutting it with its razor sharp wings.

Tidus escaped from his former hiding spot and brought out his sword once again. "Want me? Come an' get me!" he yelled to the creature as it circulated back to go into battle with its enemy. Tidus somersaulted forward just before getting decapitated. "Wow, close one!" Tidus said while getting up into his attack stance. The returning dragon was in for yet another surprise when Tidus struck it in the face. As a reaction, the sea dragon was whip lashing all over the place. Its spiky tail waved widely as it hit Tidus in the hand, making his sword fly away from him and land in the sand. "Damn!" he exclaimed running for his sword. "Oh no!" the creature's wings flapped slowly as it landed on the ground in front of sword before Tidus could retrieved it.


End file.
